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Synopsis

A CJI DY Chandrachud led bench of the Supreme Court today said that it would reconsider AAP leader Manish Sisodia's bail plea who is accused in the liquor excise policy scam. On June 4th, a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Sandeep Mehta had notably refused to grant bail to Sisodia.

This was after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had informed the vacation bench hearing Sisodia's plea that the final chargesheet would be filed in three weeks. 

Today, Senior Advocate AM Singhvi mentioned Sisodia's plea before the CJI saying that his client had been in jail for over 16 months. Court in response asked Singhvi to rectify the defects in his plea adding that the petition shall be heard.

Sisodia has approached Supreme Court against the May 21 decision of Delhi High Court denying him bail after concluding that Sisodia had gravely misused his authority and breached public trust.

The bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma observed that the corruption in question originated from Sisodia's intention to create the liquor policy. The court asserted that he manipulated the policy formulation process and deviated from the recommendations of the expert committee he had set up.

In December 2023, a division bench of the Supreme Court had also dismissed the review petition filed by former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Sisodia challenging the court's earlier order denying him bail in the Delhi excise policy scam case. 

Sisodia had filed the instant review plea in November after a division bench on October 30, 2023 had refused to grant him bail. While not granting any relief to the AAP leader, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti had directed that the trial be completed by 6-8 months.